Wolfman WR2 Head Discussion

I've also been experimenting with shimming an already large gap razor (GreenCult 2.0 IV plate). While you will likely be able to replicate the gap of the Wolfman 1.55, you won't be able to replicate the exposure, as shimming will not increase the exposure to the level of the 1.55 (which is 0.4 mm). You will increase the exposure slightly though - because the shave plane where that is calculated from will become steeper due to the increased gap, so it should intersect the blade more.

Ah, gotcha. I thought increasing the gap would also increase the exposure to the same level as the 1.55.

I suppose I could be wrong, but the WR2 1.25 has an exposure of just under 0.2 mm, so adding 0.3 mm of shim (3 blades) will definitely get you to the same gap, but I don't think it can get you to the 0.4 mm exposure of the WR2 1.55.

For instance, on the GreenCult 2.0 IV plate - it has a gap/exposure of 1.05/0.2 mm with no shims, but if I add 2 blade shims (0.2 mm), I definitely get to 1.25 mm gap, but I measured the exposure to only increase to ~0.25-0.27 mm. I measured it by loading a blade and shims, taking a picture of the head end-on and then measuring a dimension that was in that picture (in this case, the distance from the bottom of the plate to the top of the cap) with calipers. I then used Adobe Illustrator (I'm sure Microsoft paint would work fine too) to draw a line from the bottom of the plate to the top of the cap (which the program then reports the length of the line in pixels). This gives you a mm/pixel conversion and you can do whatever measurements you want pretty accurately like this. Intuitively, the gap should directly increase by the measured amount of shim you add, and it definitely did and was verified by my measurement, but the exposure increases more slowly with added gap. This makes sense after drawing it out.

I too have been toying with the idea of getting a WR2 1.55 and just kinda wanted to use what I had to see if that was too much exposure/gap for me. I'm going to continue to add shims and see how the shaves are, but I found that I could shave much much steeper even with just 2 shims and I felt that the efficiency increase was pretty extreme while still being very gentle on my skin - actually, much more gentle than without the shims. I think this is just because my skin much more agrees with steep angle shaving than shallow.

Also, just as a point of reference, I shave every day - so I'm just shaving short stubble, but I feel like I have to go over areas way too many times to get them smooth and it was adding lots of irritation. This new configuration with shims is such a drastic improvement. It's really got my wanting to put my name on the list for a WR2 1.55.

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I suppose I could be wrong, but the WR2 1.25 has an exposure of just under 0.2 mm, so adding 0.3 mm of shim (3 blades) will definitely get you to the same gap, but I don't think it can get you to the 0.4 mm exposure of the WR2 1.55.

For instance, on the GreenCult 2.0 IV plate - it has a gap/exposure of 1.05/0.2 mm with no shims, but if I add 2 blade shims (0.2 mm), I definitely get to 1.25 mm gap, but I measured the exposure to only increase to ~0.25-0.27 mm. I measured it by loading a blade and shims, taking a picture of the head end-on and then measuring a dimension that was in that picture (in this case, the distance from the bottom of the plate to the top of the cap) with calipers. I then used Adobe Illustrator (I'm sure Microsoft paint would work fine too) to draw a line from the bottom of the plate to the top of the cap (which the program then reports the length of the line in pixels). This gives you a mm/pixel conversion and you can do whatever measurements you want pretty accurately like this. Intuitively, the gap should directly increase by the measured amount of shim you add, and it definitely did and was verified by my measurement, but the exposure increases more slowly with added gap. This makes sense after drawing it out.

I too have been toying with the idea of getting a WR2 1.55 and just kinda wanted to use what I had to see if that was too much exposure/gap for me. I'm going to continue to add shims and see how the shaves are, but I found that I could shave much much steeper even with just 2 shims and I felt that the efficiency increase was pretty extreme while still being very gentle on my skin - actually, much more gentle than without the shims. I think this is just because my skin much more agrees with steep angle shaving than shallow.

Also, just as a point of reference, I shave every day - so I'm just shaving short stubble, but I feel like I have to go over areas way too many times to get them smooth and it was adding lots of irritation. This new configuration with shims is such a drastic improvement. It's really got my wanting to put my name on the list for a WR2 1.55.

I recommend wr2 1.55 as much as I like it I have 2 one SS and one 1.55/1.35 bronze as a backup

I've also been experimenting with shimming an already large gap razor (GreenCult 2.0 IV plate). While you will likely be able to replicate the gap of the Wolfman 1.55, you won't be able to replicate the exposure, as shimming will not increase the exposure to the level of the 1.55 (which is 0.4 mm). You will increase the exposure slightly though - because the shave plane where that is calculated from will become steeper due to the increased gap, so it should intersect the blade more.

Ah, gotcha. I thought increasing the gap would also increase the exposure to the same level as the 1.55.

I actually did a few more measurements, and it turns out my method of measuring isn't the best. It's hard to accurately define the shave plane, and it's also hard to image the beveled part of the blade, so there's actually a lot of variability unfortunately. It's a sound method if you get a good, well-defined picture, but the problems I just stated are hard to fix with just a camera phone.

In reading a lot about this, it seems that the wolfman caps are all the same, and the increased gaps seem to be created by shaving down the safety bar - so actually, you're probably pretty close by using shims. I'm sure there's some differences, but it's probably a sound way to get a good idea what the un-shimmed larger gap razor would behave like.

Sorry if I added confusion... I just happened to be doing this shimming experiment with my razor when yours came up and maybe commented too soon till I was sure about my method of measuring.

What blade gap did you go with? I'm thinking about either the 1.15mm or the 1.25mm. My go to favorite currently is a Karve Overlander with a .73mm blade gap.

What blade gap did you go with? I'm thinking about either the 1.15mm or the 1.25mm. My go to favorite currently is a Karve Overlander with a .73mm blade gap.

I would recommend .95 for you if you get along well with the Overlander.  It’s wonderfully smooth like the Overlander and quite a bit more efficient …

Such beautiful razors. I am on the waiting list, trying to decide which gap to go with, thinking the 1.25

Yes, I hear that most people prefer the WR-2 to the BBS, but love to hear from someone who has tried both